Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers said conditions have not been met which would trigger a poll on the reunification of Ireland despite the result of Thursday's vote on Europe.
Sinn Fein had called for voters to be given a say on the issue after Northern Ireland rejected leaving the EU - with 55.8% supporting Remain - saying it would be a “democratic imperative”.
But speaking on Radio Ulster on Saturday, Villiers - who supported the Leave campaign - said the circumstances under which such a poll would be carried out were not in place.
She said: "The Good Friday Agreement sets out the conditions under which I am required to call for a border poll - those are when I believe that there's a reasonable likelihood that there would be a majority for a united Ireland.
"There's nothing to indicate that that would be the case - quite the contrary, the research and opinion polls have tended all to make it very clear that the majority in Northern Ireland support the political settlement under the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and hence Northern Ireland's place within the United Kingdom."
The Irish Parliament will be recalled tomorrow to discuss the impact of Brexit on the Republic of Ireland.
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny and David Cameron are reported to have spoken by phone in the wake of the vote, with agreement that there would be no interruption to working with Northern Ireland and immediate discussions will be held on issues like the common travel area and border.
Kenny said the Irish government has a contingency plan in place following the Leave vote in the UK.
He said: "I want to assure the Irish public that we have prepared to the greatest extent possible for this eventuality.
"There will be no immediate change to the free flow of people, goods and services between our islands."
Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK which shares a border with an EU country.
In the wake of the Brexit vote, there was speculation border controls would have to be reintroduced – but Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster has insisted a “hard border” would not be required.
A surge in interest in applying for an Irish passport has also been reported.
Under the Good Friday deal anyone born in Ireland – north or south of the border – can claim a passport from the Republic, which would mean membership of the EU even if the UK has left.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel